Dick Taylor of the Rolling Stones & the Pretty Things talks origins

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Dick Taylor was one of the founding member of the Rolling Stones and later put together another classic British band, The Pretty Things.

Dick will soon be heading to Australia with The Pretty Things for the very first time. In a pre-tour interview he told Noise11.com about the origins of The Stones and The Pretty Things.

Dick counts the beginning of The Stones from April, 1962 but says he and Mick Jagger go back way before that.

“It just seems surreal that it was 50 years ago. In some ways it does seem like it’s in the dim distant past but in other ways a lot of my memories are quite fresh still,” he recounts to Noise11.com.

“I was in the very first band that Mick Jagger was ever in,” he says. “Even through we never played any gigs we rehearsed and rehearsed and rehearsed around my house mostly. I was involved with him and we were bringing records into school and a group of our friends would be playing the latest Chuck Berry record, or whatever. I was involved with Mick from a very early age. Then when I went to Art School I met Keith Richards. There I was at art school at the age of 16 and still rehearsing with Mick . Keith was playing guitar. He was fascinated by Scotty Moore. He was too shy to suggest he come around to rehearse with us until one day he and Mick caught up with each other. They had known each other when they were really young. At that point we decided to get him round. Then we had Mick, myself and Keith playing together for quite a while. Then we met Brian Jones and the Rolling Stones came together”.

However, Dick can’t remember who named the band. “I am really not sure,” he says. “I know we were in the Bricklayers Arms, a pub we used to rehearse in in Soho. We stood around trying to think of a name. We had been playing Rollin' Stone Blues by Muddy Waters prior to discussing the name. Then it came up. I am really not sure which of us actually suggested it. I’d love to say it was me but I really can’t remember”.

Dick also confirmed that the original name of the band was The Rollin’ Stones (without the g). “Yeah because Rollin' Stone Blues was how it was spelt on the Muddy Waters record,” he said. “I noticed in the very first gig we ever did it was billed as ‘Mick Jagger and the Rollin' Stones. I am quite sure Brian would have been miffed about that”.

Dick Taylor only had a short stint with the Stones. By December 1962 he left and was replaced by Bill Wyman. “I was playing bass and also trying to get into the Royal College of Art. In the end I went to the Central School of Art. I wanted to play guitar rather than bass. At the art school I was at was Phil May. We actually hired the Rollin Stones for an art school dance. We had to pay them 25 quid. We thought we could be making that kind of money if we started another band”.